U.S. Drone Crashes in Seychelles, Air Force Investigating

Dec. 13, 2011: An MQ-9, seen here, also known by the military as "Reaper," crashed in the Seychelles Airport, the Air Force confirmed.
(U.S. Air Force)

A U.S. drone has crashed in the island nation of Seychelles, an incident that comes just over a week after a U.S. drone went down in Iran.

The U.S. Air Force confirmed that the unarmed MQ-9 drone crash-landed at the Seychelles International Airport Tuesday morning.

"The cause of the incident is unknown and currently under investigation," the Air Force said in a statement.

According to the Air Force, the Seychelles government was "immediately notified," and the U.S. military is coordinating with Seychelles officials to coordinate "the removal of debris."

The drone that went down more than a week ago in Iran remains in Iranian hands. An Iranian military official said over the weekend that the country will not return the aircraft, as it considers the drone's presence a "hostile act." Iran's defense minister has called on the United States to apologize for the incident.

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The latest crash comes just hours after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, the base that houses troops assigned to a unit in the horn of Africa and is home to a fleet of drones assigned to fly over the horn of Africa and some areas in the Middle East.

Seychelles is located to the southeast of that base, off the eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean.